11/20/2018

BLO's "Schoenberg in Hollywood": Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom?

While enjoying the World Premiere (commissioned by
Boston Lyric Opera) of composer Tod Machover's Schoenberg in
Hollywood, one couldn't help but be reminded of the ingenious
1953 Disney short, Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom, which treated
the traditional origins of Western (tonal) music in its basic four
elements of brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion. This
production, recently performedat Emerson's Paramount Theatre,
was nothing if not challenging to such tonality, with its
deconstructed approach to composition. It even included a tribute to
the Hollywood world of animation (though Warner Brothers' Looney
Tunes rather than Disney) and brief but amusing musical
references to movie music (“As Time Goes By” from Casablanca
or the title song from Singin' in the Rain) and early
television (the “Happy Trails to You” of Roy Rogers and Dale
Evans). With a sparse, sometimes looney, sometimes devastating,
Libretto by Simon Robson (based on a Scenario by the late Braham
Murray), it's about as enthralling as a twelve-tone scale might ever
be, in this one-act ninety minute piece.

The place was indeed Hollywood, or some fantasy version
thereof, and the time was 1935, as the real-life composer Schoenberg
contemplated what writing movie music entailed. In the libretto,
there are numerous pithy quotations and musical markers along the
way. There were only three singers, Omar Ebrahim as Schoenberg, and,
in numerous roles, Sara Womble and Jesse Darden. All three were
outstanding, aided immensely by arguably the finest creative team
ever assembled on a Boston stage. The performance, precisely
Conducted by David Angus with a chamber ensemble from the BLO, was
supported by excellent Stage Direction by Karole Armitage, terrific
Sound Design by Ben Bloomberg, versatile Set Design by Simon Higlett
and Costume Design by Nancy Leary, and exquisite Lighting Design by
Pablo Santiago, with perhaps the most creative element being the
Media and Projection Design by Peter Torpey.

It helped if you were familiar with Yiddish and/or
German words, as too often side titles didn't translate them; for
example, “manchmal”, “weiss ich nicht”, or “verklarte
nacht” (though this last one belatedly was translated, as
“transfigured night”). But there's no missing the intent of some
of the better allusions, such as “silence is a curious
accompaniment, isn't it?”, and “can a man know the truth and tell
it to the greatest number and not be (mis) understood?”, or “theory
must never precede creation”, “if you doubt me, recreate me”,
and discussions of “unity”. With respect to the musical
foundations, there were such apologias as “dissonance makes the
world go 'round”, “tonality went the way of fidelity”, “I'm
killin' tonal music” (sung to “Singin' in the Rain”) and “at
least I treated all the notes equally”. More profoundly, there
were observations about coming “so far, to find we are only
what we are” and his defensive “I will guess the future, I will
forget the past”.

There was much hope conveyed, despite the visual and
auditory atrocities of Nazi Germany, such as the possibility of
“music saving mankind”. This serious note was counterbalanced by
the quip that Schoenberg (and Machover) share a tendency to present
“a chord you just ain't expectin'.”

To quote the libretto, which in turn referenced Looney
Tunes: “that's all, volks!”

(Note: Actually,
that's not really all, since BLO will continue this adventurous
2019-2019 season with performances March11-17 of Britten's “The
Rape of Lucretia” and May 5-12 of Ruders' “The Handmaid's Tale”).